'Kidnapped' by the Mayo Clinic; Death by Colonoscopy; Health Officials' Secret Finances ...
- by Greg Portz
Happy Tuesday and welcome to another edition of Investigative Roundup, gathering some of the best investigative reporting on healthcare each week.
"Kidnapped" by the Mayo Clinic
Two years ago, 18-year-old Alyssa Gilderhus suffered a brain aneurysm during the Christmas holidays. Gilderhus was then placed at the Mayo Clinic for treatment. But she and her family didn't like the care she was given and wished to transfer to a different hospital. The Mayo Clinic said no and even tried to get legal guardianship over the young woman.
With few options, her family hatched an escape plan and spirited Alyssa off of the Mayo premises -- not without nurses yelling and trying to pull her back.
In a two-part investigation, CNN examines the alleged "medical kidnapping," including video of the "escape."
Death By Colonoscopy?
Many times, common procedures turn deadly, and an investigation by Kaiser Health News and USA Today network found lax regulations for outpatient centers where these deaths happen. In 17 states, if patients die or are severely injured in one, there is no way to report that the death was after outpatient surgery center ca re.
One of the most high-profile instances was the death of comedian Joan Rivers in 2014, but it happens across the country. A clinic in Arkansas saw two patients die and one critically ill after colonoscopy procedures, but "no facility oversight authority has examined whether the deaths were a statistical anomaly or cause for alarm."
Top Health Officials' $$ Shrouded in Secrecy
One-fifth of senior state public health officials in the U.S. don't have to disclose finances thanks to widely varying laws, according to a report by Politico. These patchwork requirements mean that many officials can easily invest in industries and companies that they regulate. A brash example is Trump's first CDC director Brenda Fitzgerald, MD, who held investments in fast-food and tobacco stocks -- Fitzgerald quit earlier this year.
Financial disclosure alone won't solve problems like this from arising again, experts say, but stringent oversight measures could help stop ethical conflicts in the future.
Famous Doc's New Journal Edits
Lecture and consulting fees, travel, and even stock options from medical device makers are some of the perks that "famed" surgeon O.H. "Bud" Frazier, MD, received. He neglected to disclose his connection with such companies in the articles -- about medical devices -- he wrote for medical journals. ProPublica and the Houston Chronicle initially reported on Frazier's history in May. In a new update, the reporters found that Frazier had amended disclosures in three letters to the New England Journal of Medicine.
Secret $60M Psychiatric Home in Maine
A Florida company is trying to keep secret its proposal for a possible $60-million contract to staff and run a psychiatric residence in Maine. The Associated Press requested information und er the state's Freedom of Access Act but only received a redacted version of Correct Care's proposal. Follow-ups with the company and the governor have gone unanswered. A spokesperson for Correct Care said: "... the staffing, hiring and retention information of Correct Care is confidential, proprietary information developed at substantial expense by Correct Care."
2018-08-14T10:30:00-0400Source: Google News US Health | Netizen 24 United States
